Thursday, January 31, 2013

I have seen several posts lately where bloggers have been interviewed about "how and where" they blog. Well this is how I ("we") blog. I sit in my comfy chair with my feet propped up and rub Chloe's chin or ears with one hand and blog with the other.

It's a miracle more typos don't occur because the more I rub her ears or chin, the more relaxed she gets.

Her eyes get droopy and she starts to lean on the keyboard but she won't go take a nap - not when there are posts to write and ears to be scratched. So I hold her droopy, sleepy head in one hand and blog with the other. And that's how we blog around here!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

I tend to do my "Spring Cleaning" now - so Winter Cleaning, I guess. I want to be in the yard when it warms up and I always want to paint in January.

This year it is more than want to paint - I reallllly need to paint quite a few rooms. It's been a while and the white trim in the house is past due! There are no more miracles with a "miracle sponge" left for my kitchen cabinets either. I have two big hairy dogs and red Georgia clay - 'nuff said. And if I'm being honest - I've had some of this paint since last Fall but it just didn't happen. Then putting out Christmas decorations and cleaning for the holidays and then taking them down made me know that it must be done!I always have my Sherwin Williams fan deck floating around and I've got paint samples in my purse or the notebook I carry but they get lost and rumpled. I make paint swatches on index cards and they get dirty and rumpled in my purse or I forget the color name.... you get the idea. Well, I am determined to paint my way through the house and be organized about it.

Blurry, I know. Sorry. It has rained for a week and the lighting is awful but I'm determined to post this today because I love it! I pulled out a random notebook ring I had, some jumbo craft sticks ( like popsicle sticks on steroids) a Sharpie and my Crop-a-Dile ( I've told you repeatedly to get one of these!!)

Then when they were dry I flipped the craft sticks over and used the Sharpie to write the name of the color, the Sherwin Williams number and what room the color is in! Very organized, if I do say so myself!

I went ahead and pre-punched several sticks so I am ready to paint my swatches any time I paint.

Slide the craft sticks on the ring, close it up and drop it in your purse or tote bag when you head out to buy fabric, towels, accessories, etc. It doesn't weigh a thing and your whole decorating color scheme is right there on a ring all together. I was just thinking that if you wanted to add fabric swatches to the ring that those little clear badge holders or bag tag holders from the office supply would work beautifully on the ring as well. Just slide a couple of those on the ring and put a sample of the fabric in it. Very handy!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

... Seriously, I cannot believe that we are already nine days in to 2013 !

Happy Belated New Year!A few images of our Christmas Season... It was so much fun to have College Girl and friends around the house!But now it is quiet again!

We were so busy and the time just flew. I got all of my painting orders out the door in time and then we just had fun cooking, buying a real tree, watching movies, reading, going out to eat, seeing friends and more. The time flew and then it was the new year.And it was time to earn my stripes...

College Girl decided to rearrange and purge while she was home this break. She has sorted and purged before but she got a part time campus job and it will mean being on campus all Summer. so she decided to get organized now for her move out of the Chi O House this Summer and then into an apartment with her bestie. Crazy as it sounds, this will be her longest break for a year. So she got organized and then went back to campus for New Year's Eve celebrations. I had a quick celebration with friends and then I started to paint!

We have bought for and decorated a dorm room, an apartment, a house she shared with a couple of her sisters and a room extrordinaire in the Chi O House . I didn't really want to invest much in a redo at home but I did want it to be nice for those quick visits and to freshen things up.The most cost effective decorating tool around??? Yep, paint. And yellow is her favorite color and we have 2 yellow comforters that we have accumualted in all the moves and bed size changes from place to place. Perfect - 1 comforter for home and one for the move this Summer. So I bought 2 cans of yellow paint. I had the deeper yellow mixed full strength and then had it mixed at 50%. I marked off wide stripes with painters tape and rolled on that cheery yellow paint.

I love. love stripes. I love to paint them, too. :) It's fun and there is a simple trick to getting those perfect, clean edges.

After you mark off the width of your stripe and tape off the edge you simply paint the edge of your painters tape with the wall color. Then whatever bleeds under the tape matches the wall. After it dries you simply paint your stripe color. The tape edge is sealed with the base color and the stripe color doesn't bleed under. It is one extra step, you have to wait for it to dry but there are zero touch ups with a brush while you try to steady your hand and wipe up wobbly brush marks. The stripes come out clean every. single. time. I striped my downstairs powder room and it was a breeze. I could paint stripes everywhere. I have to control myself or my house will look like the children's book, " A Bad Case of Stripes"!!

Clean. Fresh. Cheery. (and economical) A great way to start 2013.
It was all finished by the time College Girl came home on New Year's day!!